Healthy Breakfast Bread Pudding

By Monica
12 servings

The best easy, healthy, make-ahead breakfast! Yummy, healthy goodness in a jar, and 156 calories! This is low fat, low (or no) sugar, 100% whole grain, and has all kinds of nutrition. Can't beat the make-ahead individual servings for those busy mornings.

To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add 1/4 cup muffin batter to individual ungreased half-pint, wide-mouth mason jars. Place jars on a baking sheet. Bake for 21-24 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.* Move to wire rack and cool completely. (At this point, the cooled muffin jars can be covered and frozen for up to 1 month, if desired.)

ADD TOPPINGS: Spoon 1/4 cup yogurt on top of baked muffin in each jar. Top with enough berries to fill jar, approx. 1/4 cup. Cover and refrigerate overnight or as long as 3 days.

*MICROWAVE OPTION: Microwave 1 jar for 50-65 seconds (microwave times will vary). To microwave multiple jars at one time, increase cooking time 20-30 seconds for each additional jar.

This is my new favorite easy, make-ahead breakfast. Yummy, healthy goodness in a jar, and 156 calories! I try to limit my carbs; but sometimes I've just gotta have something sweet and bready for breakfast. This is a way to do that with low calories, low fat, low (or no) added sugar, 100% whole grains, and all kinds of nutrition. Plus I can make these up several days ahead, so they're ready for a quick grab-and-go breakfast on those busy mornings.

I kind of stumbled into this recipe. I had a batch of my Magic Muffin batter in the fridge--you can read about how fantastically nutritious and convenient it is in my previous post. I tried baking a Magic Muffin in a mason jar, just for kicks. That worked great. There was some extra room left in the jar, so I tried topping it with yogurt and fruit. Had to run, so I put a lid on the jar and put it in the fridge. Didn't get back to it until the next day. IT WAS SOME KINDA WONDERFUL! The yogurt on top had added a slight sogginess to the muffin--in a good way! It was similar to when you make dessert bread pudding by adding milk/eggs/butter to stale pieces of bread, except this breakfast bread pudding was much easier and made with all healthy ingredients. The berries on top put it over the top. I made up a few more, stuck them in the fridge, and 4 days later they were still good. Voila! Another make-ahead, healthy breakfast, to go along with my refrigerator oatmeal, oatmeal smoothies, and healthy Egg McMuffin copycats. These four make-ahead breakfast recipes make it possible to have a quick, healthy breakfast every day with plenty of variety.

Read about flour, buttermilk, and sweetener substitutions in my Magic Muffin post. You'll also find more detailed nutritional information there, along with an explanation of the role of chia seeds in replacing oil/butter and eggs in the muffins.

Step 2. Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together.

Step 4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until moist. Don't over mix; batter should be lumpy.

Step 5. Allow batter to rest for at least 30 minutes before baking in jars. (This is necessary to allow the chia seeds to soften and form a gel, promoting moister muffins.) OR... Cover batter and refrigerate overnight or up to 5 days.

Step 6. Add 1/4 cup muffin batter to individual ungreased half-pint, wide-mouth mason jars. These can be covered and refrigerated, or baked right away. Use plain batter (that's what I did) or add nuts and fruit to make a flavored batter. (See my Magic Muffin post for fruit flavor ideas.)

half-pint, wide-mouth mason jars are available at Walmart and some grocery storesclick here to view mason jars on Amazon

Step 7. To bake, place jars with batter on a baking sheet. Bake for 21-24 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Step 8. Move to cooling rack and cool completely.

MAKE-AHEAD & FREEZE: At this point, the cooled muffin jars can be covered and frozen for up to 1 month, if desired. So, you could bake a bunch & freeze them; then thaw them and add the yogurt and fruit whenever you like.

MICROWAVE OPTION. You can also cook these in the microwave. As you can see, the muffin doesn't brown in the microwave, but the texture and taste is good. It only takes 1 minute to microwave one jar. You can microwave up to 4 jars at one time, adding 20-30 seconds to the cooking time for each additional jar. NOTE: Microwaves vary, so you may have to experiment with the exact time it takes in yours. These times are based on my 1100-watt microwave.

I prefer the oven-baked ones, but the microwave method is fast and convenient.

Step 9. Assemble supplies for the toppings:

Yogurt -- You can use any kind you like; Greek or regular; flavored or plain; sweetened or not. I used regular, sweetened vanilla yogurt for convenience. You can flavor plain yogurt by adding a touch of honey (or preferred sweetener) and vanilla. Cinnamon is good mixed in, too.

Fruit -- If you want to make this ahead to last for 1-3 days in the fridge, I recommend uncut berries like blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries that are firm and unblemished. I used a combination of all 3. Once fruit is cut, it begins to release juices and will deteriorate more quickly. If you prefer to use some kind of cut fruit, I recommend adding it to the jars right before eating.

Step 12. Put a lid on the jar, and refrigerator overnight or up to 3 days. The mason jars stack compactly in the fridge. I use white plastic jar lids sized to fit canning jars--they last longer than the metal tops and rims that come with the jars, and they are easier to screw on and off; some Walmarts carry them.

The next morning, the jars are ready to open and eat at home, at work, or on the go. You can top them off with more fruit, if desired.

MAKE THEM MINI SIZE. These would be fun and easy to serve on a breakfast or brunch buffet or take to a pot luck. You could make even smaller versions in 4 oz. mason jars. Just fill the small jars with half of the ingredient amounts (bake 1/8 cup batter, add 1/8 cup yogurt & 1/8 cup fruit)

To bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add 1/4 cup muffin batter to individual ungreased half-pint, wide-mouth mason jars. Place jars on a baking sheet. Bake for 21-24 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.* Move to wire rack and cool completely. (At this point, the cooled muffin jars can be covered and frozen for up to 1 month, if desired.)

ADD TOPPINGS: Spoon 1/4 cup yogurt on top of baked muffin in each jar. Top with enough berries to fill jar, approx. 1/4 cup. Cover and refrigerate overnight or as long as 3 days.

*MICROWAVE OPTION: Microwave 1 jar for 50-65 seconds (microwave times will vary). To microwave multiple jars at one time, increase cooking time 20-30 seconds for each additional jar.

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